Gur Wale Chawal - Rice Cooked in Brown Sugar

This post is seriously late!

 

The awesome picture you see below is what my dear sweet Mami made when I visited Lahore over a year ago. She is used to cooking for much larger crowds so it was very amusing to hear ingredients going into the pot by kilos :-)

 

I am sharing her recipe below... which I downsized to about a cup of rice.

It's really quite simple to put together.. the only set back is that I can't find good quality Gur (a type of brown sugar) anywhere here :-( 

 

 

Several months ago I made a batch.... quite honestly it lacked the wonderful gold color that you see in pictures and the rich flavor... primarily because I ended up using Jaggery that you can commonly find in Indian grocery stores here.

 

I am not entirely sure about this.... but I think that even though they all start as cane juice Gur, Jaggery and Shakar are three very different products. Try and find Gur from Pakistan - which usually looks like large lumps rather than cubes - when you make this. And then send some my way :-)

 

I loved watching this video that shows Gur making in Sargodha. Very relaxing music and the imagery makes me home sick! I am sometimes very ambitious when it comes to cooking stuff the authentic way..... maybe one of these days I'll get a few jugs of freshly squeezed cane juice from Chaat 'n Roll and make some Gur at home :-)

 

Ingredients

You can definitely add lots of dried fruit, nuts and coconut into this. I like it naked with a hint of cardamom.

1 cup Long grain basmati rice (no other rice will work)
2 1/2 cups Water for boiling

3/4 cups Shredded Gur
1/3 tsp Freshly ground cardamom
1/3 cup Ghee (or melted butter)
1/4 cup Persian green raisins (or dried Persian apricots) *optional
1/4 cup Mixed nuts (like pine nuts, pistachios or almonds) *optional
2-3 Tbs Dried unsweetened coconut slivers *optional
1/2 cup Water

Start by boiling 2 1/2 cups of water in a large pot.
Add 1 cup of rice to it and boil until the rice is cooked almost al dente. To check simply rub and smash an individual grain of rice between your thumb and forefinger. The outer surface of the rice should be soft and tender but the middle will feel like it has at least 2 hard dots.

While the rice is boiling... take a separate cooking pot and heat up 1/2 cup of water. Add shredded Gur into the pot.... cook on medium low heat and stir often to prevent burning. When all is melted and combined add cardamom powder and ghee to it. Have this syrup ready and warm.... you will add the drained rice immediately into this.

Drain the rice... shake off the extra water and then add it to the pot that contains the sugar butter syrup.
Mix gently.. turn the heat on low.
Cover the pot airtight with a lid that has been wrapped in a moist kitchen towel... no steam should escape.
Steam for 15 minutes or until the rice is completely tender.
Mix in the coconut, raisins and nuts.
Done :-)
Its best when eaten slightly warm with some un-sweetened un-whipped 40% fat heavy cream on top!

 

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Chicken Karhai - Zar's Recipe

One of the things I love about my visits to Pakistan is all delish food I get to eat. I am very lucky to have come from a family of extremely talented cooks :-)

The picture above is what Zar - my very pretty and very talkative bhabhi - cooked for us one day.
It was quite possibly one of the best chicken karhais that I have ever had!
No kidding... it was finger licking good :-)
We sort of like naming recipes after her so lets call this one Zar-hai lol :-)




recipe soon

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Oven Roasted Chicken - Rana's Recipe

My gal Rana made this Arabesque last minute thanksgiving dinner possible just now :-)

She started with a whole, free range... organic chicken from Trader Joe's. She then rubbed some Baharat - an exotic Arabian spice blend that contains several different spices and herbs - all over the chicken. She also poured some Kraft olive oil vinaigrette, sprinkled some coarse black pepper and crushed bay leaves on all sides of the chicken and never used any salt. She let this bird sit on the counter for about an hour and a half - just the time I needed to shower, get ready, grab a few potatoes and head her way. We baked this on a roasting rack... breast side down for 30 minutes in a pre-heated 350 degree oven. We then turned the bird.. breast side up, we also turned the heat up to 400 degrees and baked for 40 minutes. We turned it over one last time... breast side down and baked for another 30 minutes.

VERY IMPORTANT:
Roasting the chicken on a rack ensures a nice and even brown color and the skin also gets very crispy. And to catch all the drippings and to prevent a mess and a possible fire inside your oven please place the rack inside a baking dish. We used a disposable aluminum pan.

The result: This fabulous, golden, succulent, super juicy oven roasted chicken bursting with flavor :-)
The sides were simple and quick to put together.
Mashed potatoes
3 small red potatoes boiled with skin on. Mashed with 1 Tbs of butter, 1 Tbs of onion and chives Boursin cheese, salt, pepper and some milk.
Sauteed vegetables
Carrots, green beans, mushrooms, onions, peas, garlic cooked in a tiny amount of oil and seasoned with salt, pepper and herbs. (The carrots and green beans were pre-cooked from Haggen)
Spinach salad
Baby spinach, sweet onions, carrots, cherry tomatoes tossed with olive oil, some balsamic vinegar and of course a little salt and pepper.
Cranberry and walnut tart
From Trader Joe's
French Bread
Haggen bakery

Everything was super awesome!
She suggested sweet Riesling will pair well with it :-)

And oh yeah... almost forgot.

We cooked while sipping Turkish coffee and munched on Boursin cheese with rice and charcoal crackers, cashews, raisins, Ritter Sport hazelnut chocolate and prunes!

Had a terrific time :-)

Thanks Rana for pulling this off :-)

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Basbousa

I have been meaning to write this post for a while now. And finally today I was able to get it done which I feel is great timing...  being the first week of Ramadan :-)

Several weeks ago me and Rana... a pal of mine... got together at her place to make this delicious traditional Iraqi dessert called basbousa. It was a lot of fun making this with her. To start off  we went to the Whole Foods near Wallingford to gather some ingredients. And while we were shopping for stuff we ran into Fabio who coincidentally was there promoting something. Still looking good.... front and back :-)

Anyhow, back to the basboussa .... very easy to make and so melt in your mouth awesome good! The texture is very similar to a super moist dense cake. The sweetness comes from the sugar within the dough and also from a sugar syrup which is poured onto the dessert after it is done baking.  Rana was nice enough to share her mother's recipe. We could only find fine semolina at Whole Foods but she recommends using the coarse kind which I believe you can get easily at Mayuri. You can also choose from several different flavors like cardamom, rose water or orange blossom water. We decided on vanilla and fresh lemon :-)

Ingredients

Fine semolina 1 cup ------> I use 1:1 fine and coarse semolina 

Unsweetened coconut flakes 3/4 cup

Raw cane sugar 1 cup   ---->  I prefer using 1/2 cup sugar now

Greek yogurt 1 cup

Melted butter 1/4 cup

Pure vanilla extract 1 tsp

Baking soda 1/4 tsp

Fresh lemon rind 1/2 Tbs

Blanched almonds 1/4 - used for garnish

Simple syrup 1 1/4 cup - used later

(

Water 1 cup

Raw cane sugar 1 cup ------> I prefer using 3/4 sugar now

Fresh lemon juice 2-3 Tbs

Boil lemon juice, sugar and water in a pot and let it simmer on medium heat for about 10 mins. Make sure you stir for a bit in the beginning other wise the sugar could burn.

)

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine semolina, coconut flakes, sugar, yogurt, butter, vanilla, baking soda and lemon rind in a large mixing bowl.

Use a wooden spatula or knead with your hands to incorporate all the ingredients together. This would take a few minutes and the result should be a lump free, slightly sticky and semi hard dough.

Spread the mixture in an 8" square baking dish, no need to butter the dish.
Make sure the surface is super smooth and very even because this is a hard dough and it won't spread much during baking.

Let this sit on the countertop for about an hour - a necessary step for the semolina to get soft.

Make diamonds or squares and cut the dough into pieces with a knife... like you would for brownies.
Again smooth out any edges that might have become rough while cutting.

Place an almond in the center of each piece and gently press it down.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until light golden brown.

Once baked and out of the oven, reinforce all the cut marks with a knife, this will allow the syrup to get fully absorbed.

Immediately pour the warm sugar syrup on top of it and let it soak for about 10-15 mins atleast.
This dessert tastes best slightly warm. We had this with some Turkish coffee, killer combo! MmMmmmMMm! :-)

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Megha's Paneer

Uff.... I can't count the number of days when I have woken up CRAVING this incredible paneer! For the longest time ever I have always asked Megha to make it for me and then it got a lil embarrassing :-)
This is her recipe that I am sharing.
Trust me you won't regret making this!
Very easy, and extremely flavorful!
This is perhaps the only reason I am glad Samant doesn't eat onions (or so he thinks) :-D

(cook time 20 mins)
(serves 3-4)
Ingredients

Paneer 2 cups (cut into 1" cubes and lightly fried) Homemade tastes best!
Raw cashews 1/4 cup
Raw peanuts 1/4 cup
Sesame seeds 3 Tbs
Whole coriander seeds 1 Tbs
Whole dried chillies 2-3 (adjust to what taste buds like)
Yogurt 1/2 cup
Brown sugar or Jaggery 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek leaves - Kasoori Methi 2 tsp
Water 2-3 Tbs
Salt
Butter 2 Tbs

Method

You will need to roast some of the ingredients.
Place a large frying pan on medium high heat.
Begin with the chillies, peanuts and cashews and roast them for about 2 mins, stir them once or twice.
Add the sesame and coriander seeds and continue to roast for another 3-4 minutes or until all the ingredients are lightly toasted.
Let these cool a bit.
Add yogurt, water and use a blender to blend this into a coarse paste.
Return this to the frying pan and mix in the paneer cubes.
Season with salt, turmeric, sugar and fenugreek leaves.
Simmer on low for 5-8 mins. Stir once in between.
Turn off the heat and melt some butter on top.
Done!
Great with naan.

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Homemade Pasta and Mussels

Meet my fabulous sis and her wonderful hubby.

Their visit to Pike Place Market.

They make it look easy and fun.



Voila!



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Zar's Chicken Shawerma

Enjoying the last few days of my vacation back home.
Zarlashta, my adorable teeny tiny bhabhi, made some extremely yummylicious shawermas for us.
A wonderful Mediterranean inspired sandwich consisting of tender pieces of meat wrapped in warm pita bread. I think these would also be great for picnics.
Lets calls these Zawermas :-)

(serves 12)

(prep time 45 mins)

Ingredients

Chicken 2 1/2 lbs (boneless cut into cubes)

Garlic paste 1/2 tsp

Ginger paste 1/2 tsp

Garlic powder 1/4 tsp

Pepper 1/2 tsp

Dried Oregano 1/2 tsp

Dried Rosemary 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice 1 1/2 Tbs

Vinegar 1 Tbs

Worcestershire sauce 1 Tbs

Salt

Oil for cooking 1/4 cup

Heat some oil in a frying pan, season the chicken with all the spices and cook until tender.

Allow the chicken to cool down and then shred into small pieces.

Veggies

Green bell pepper 2 med (sliced into thin strips)

Red onions 1 med (sliced thin)

Carrots 1 large (sliced thin)

Cucumbers 1 large (sliced thin) optional

Pickels 6 med (Sliced length wise) optional

Jalepeno 3-4 Tbs (chopped) optional

Mushrooms 3-4 Tbs (sliced) optional

Add a few drops of vinegar to these.

Mayo Sauce

Mayonnaise 5 Tbs

Garlic paste 1/4 tsp

Pepper 1/2 tsp

Paprika 1/4 tsp

Red chili flakes 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice 2 Tbs

Salt

Mix everything together in a bowl.

You will need 12 gently toasted, medium sized pita breads.

Here is a demo on how to wrap these.

Enjoy :-)

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Lunch at Farheen's

My awesome cousin Farheen had me over for lunch at her place, a beautiful house in a land far far away. We set off early morning one fine day and after many moons were welcomed by this wonderful meal....

...followed by this yummy dessert called Firni. A sliky smooth rice porridge set in un-glazed clay pots.

For reasons know only to a few I like calling this dessert fur-ni :-)

(serves 6)

(prep time 1 hour)

Ingredients

Whole milk 4 cups
Rice Powder 2-3 Tbsp
Pistachios and/or almonds (chopped fine) 1/4 cup
Sugar 1/4 cup
Cardamoms pods  4

Method

Blend rice powder with 1/2 cup cold milk and put it aside for at least half an hour.
Boil remaining milk with cardamoms.
Lower heat to medium and slowly pour in the blended rice powder in a steady stream.
Continue to cook on medium heat, stirring all the time, until it begins to thicken should take about 10 mins.
Add sugar and mix in the chopped nuts.
Taste and cool the firni pot in a bowl of water.
Once the firni has cooled down, pour it in a separate bowl or preferably in the special firni pots.
Decorate with some slivered almonds on top, place them in the fridge and chill for at least 5-6 hours.
:-)

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